Drop dead gorgeous? Well, these toxin-laced beauty products can make you drop dead! Recently, Chicago Tribune discovered the ugly truth about some beauty products. It reported that out of the 50 skin lightening products it sent to a certified laboratory for testing, six were found to contain high levels of mercury prohibited under US federal law.
Brands found tainted with mercury are: Ling Ji Su from China, Luluajina from China, Top-Gel MCA Extra Pearl Cream from Taiwan (Zenna Chemical Industry Co., however, told Chicago Tribune that the tainted Top Gel products could be counterfeit), Shabright Clear and Bright Formula from India, Stillman’s Skin Bleach Cream from Pakistan, and Crème Diana from Lebanon. Of these, five tested with more than 6,000 parts per million (ppm) of mercury. Stillman’s Skin Bleach Cream registered the highest amount of mercury at 29,600 ppm. The Philippine FDA’s allowable limit is 1 ppm.
This toxic beauty scare has prompted a non-governmental anti-pollution watchdog to ask the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to intensify its action against mercury-tainted cosmetics for consumer health and safety.
The EcoWaste Coalition wrote a letter to FDA Director Nazarita Tacandong urging the regulatory agency to conduct further tests on skin whitening creams and lotions for mercury content. FYI: Mercury is a silvery white metallic element that is so toxic that exposure to even small amounts can cause damage to the brain, kidneys, and lungs. Found all around the environment (in thermometers, barometers, vapor lamps, batteries, pesticides, even the food that we eat), it can be absorbed through the skin, ingested or inhaled.
To find out if the toxic products are sold in the Philippines, EcoWaste Coalition’s “AlerToxic Patrol” combed the shelves of 18 drug stores, beauty shops, and grocery stores in Binondo, Quiapo, and Paco.
Reports Aileen Lucero of EcoWaste’s Project Protect, “We were able to buy one of the brands from various outlets, but we have yet to establish if the items we got were the same samples Chicago Tribune sent to the lab for testing. We therefore request the FDA to duly test them and assure the public that only safe products are sold on the market.”
What shocked the socks off the members of AlerToxic Patrol was the fact that it was so easy to buy these skin whitening products, already banned by the FDA by virtue of FDA Advisory 2010-002 and FDA Circular 2010-004.
Lucero points out, “What came as a shock during our store investigation was the easy availability of these mercury-tainted Jiao Li skin whiteners that the FDA already banned in February this year.”
Earlier, food and drug regulation officers were instructed to seize the mercury-tainted cosmetics and even sought the help of all enforcement agencies to apprehend and lodge appropriate criminal action against those selling the banned items.
Lucero adds with concern, “For the health and safety of our women consumers, we urge the Department of Health, particularly the FDA, to actively seek the elimination of mercury and other harmful chemicals such as lead, phthalates, dioxane, formaldehyde, hydroquinone, and steroids in personal care products, and to conduct more effective consumer advisories to inform and educate our people about chemical hazards and safer alternatives.”
Going a step further, the EcoWaste Coalition likewise requested the FDA to conduct a more comprehensive testing of cosmetics (like fragrance, makeup, lipstick, nail polish, deodorant, shampoo, soap, and other personal care products) for chemical substances that are toxic to the brain and linked to birth defects, endocrine disruption, developmental disorder, cancer, and other health problems.
Dr. Samuel Epstein, a professor of environment medicine, raised serious concerns about cosmetic products containing nanoparticles, which are hidden. Because of their ultramicroscopic size, nanoparticles readily penetrate the skin, can invade underlying blood vessels, get into the general blood stream, and produce distant toxic effects.
The good doctor warns, “These ingredients are used in many different brands of cosmetics and cosmeceuticals ... Some of these nanoparticles are so dangerous, in fact, they’re slowly but surely becoming known as ‘universal asbestos.’ There is no labeling of the warning at all of the dangers of these nanoparticles, instead they are touted as reducing wrinkling and firming up the skin surface.”
He elaborates, “However, the use of nanoparticles in cosmeceuticals, whether they are sham cosmeceuticals or whether they’re bonafide cosmeceuticals, poses an extraordinarily dangerous and unrecognized public health hazards. We already have evidence of this, including toxic effects in the brain, degenerative disorders in the brain, and nerve damage. So we’re dealing here with one of the most dangerous types of products in the whole cosmetic industry.”
In 2008, the British Royal Commission warned the public against products that contain nanoparticles as these pose extremely high toxic risks.
Small ingredients, big risks! We have to face these ugly truths about toxic cosmetics with tons of vigilance.
* * *
We’d love to hear from you. E-mail us at ching_alano@yahoo.com.